Meditation: November 16

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! Romans 11:33

There is an unfathomable degree of both wisdom and knowledge made available to any who would be willing to seek after it. Paul on other occasions spoke of height, depth, width, and breadth, indicating that there are degrees awaiting exploration by those who would remain discontent at any level. His love is the basis for all that He knows and provides. Simply speaking, Jesus Christ has an abundance of ways to express His love towards us. He clears the path of sin thus revealing His true nature by judging it. He allows the disobedient and misguided to mercifully remain for a while even though their works are counterproductive. His patience is expressed over and over again towards the worst of us. His exceeding goodness and glory extends beyond the limits of the best of us. We cannot explore all there is to understand in millions of lifetimes. Therefore throughout all eternity God will be revealing to us His wisdom and knowledge that we may know what is seen today through tinted mirrors. When He appears, we shall see Him as He is and know dimensions of His wisdom applied to situations that we may have thought were unfair. Yet even today we have the opportunity to consider Him as our Sovereign and submit to His ways.

Meditation: November 9

“He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered.” Proverbs 28:26

 A change of heart must take place before the heart can be fully trusted. It is too easily influenced by external forces. It can be manipulated by infatuations, deceived by insinuations, and deeply distressed by insecurities and fears. Wisdom is made available but it rests beyond the limits of what may currently dwell within. God must give us a new heart that beats with the rhythm of His own. Only the heart in sync with His can be trusted. He guides it to the path of righteousness, a wise course leading to life. The light of His love delivers us from certain death. When we surrender our stouthearted souls to His warm and tender care, we can be guided in a new direction of peace leading to eternal life.

Meditation: November 7

An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: (31) The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?”  Jeremiah 5:30-31

When the power of God is absent, the people follow the dictates of their own hearts. They gravitate in the direction of leaders who tell them what they want to hear rather than desiring to hear from the Lord. There will always be people-pleasers among us whose mission is to appease the consciences of the wayward rather than to tell the wayward the truth. The Holy Spirit judges the land on the basis of our choices. Even though the world may be in flux, God require His own people to prove all things and to hold fast to what is good. There are so many choices and so many voices that without the discerning Spirit of God confusion would continue to hang as a heavy cloud over this nation. But God is speaking with a distinct voice providing us with a clear message. Those that love Him will love His Word. They will not go the way of the world down the primrose path of destruction. They will follow Him down the path of righteousness and His power will preserve them from the destruction that is coming upon the world.

Meditation: November 1

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Psalm 27:1

The light that God gives illumines the way to our salvation. The darkness of night shrouds the condition of the soul. When people wander in the dark, they cannot see beyond the moment. There is no certainty of purpose or hope for the future. There are some who seek to be enlightened. Their understanding is influenced and fashioned as the result of information gained from many sources. Their hope in what appears to be sufficient enough to save them. Yet even if what they knew possessed the ability to advance them beyond their peers, it would still be lacking the power to rescue them from the testing and judgment of all things. The Psalmist proclaimed, “The Lord is my light.” Only His light can lead us to salvation. It gives reveals the nature of things that would otherwise allure us away from the eternal. It preserves, and when necessary, restores our souls. If the question of eternity is resolved as the result of walking in His light that has become our own, then whom shall we fear? Nothing within the darkness is able to frighten us because we have enough light to show us what is in fact before us. His light lightens our path enabling us to walk in the light as He is in the light.

Meditation: October 30

“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” 1 Timothy 1:12

The challenges of ministry are constant. There are always important things to do and areas of significance in need of being addressed. It is too easy to take the path of least resistance and say what would be pleasing to the masses and tickling to the ear. But the call of God is a call to faithfulness and dedication to a cause that is greater than any man. It is that call to which we must be faithful. Our efforts are not to be carried out as others who would place professionalism over character. If we are to most effectively carry out the call that is upon our lives, we must first be faithful to the God who has called us. He is the Great Teacher who will make known both His Word and His ways. It requires the discipline of character so that we are able to listen to Him first before we speak. Then our lives become of message and we live a message and not just speak one.

We do not merely choose this path, but follow after what has be both chosen for us along with the grace to walk as no other. Sometimes alone, and at other times with companions who see with us the significance of what God has given us for themselves. I thank God for His placements, and preservation of the greatest gift one could ever receive, His Son who ministers through us. May He continue to receive the honor and glory that He so richly deserve!

Meditation: October 26

“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. (23)They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness”. Lamentations 3:22-23

God gives us a new day after having learned from the experiences of yesterday, but not carrying the baggage of the many mistakes we had made. The freshness of today is as if we were starting all over again. We awaken to springtime after merely one day of the winter’s cold. His mercies are extended to us at the beginning of each new day, not holding any repented failures to our charge. His grace is before us enabling us to walk down a different path. We learn that Jesus is committed in showing us the way to the Father. Therefore if we are to learn any truth, it must come through fully following Him. We grow in our appreciation and gratitude for all has done for us. We could have died confused not knowing what to do or where to go. We were pulled out of the quicksand of yesterday and placed on solid ground of today. We are on an even footing and enabled to see where we may have made a wrong turn. Now that we know better our response to all that has been done for us is to be faithful to Him and not to place our trust in any other.

Meditation: September 29

“For with Thee is the fountain of life: in Thy light shall we see light.” Psalm 36:9 (KJV)

Darkness conceals while light reveals. Things are further darkened by darkness while they are illuminated by the light. The Lord speaks His Word in order to guide us through life. His Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We are guided through those dangerous places where the enemy of our souls is lurking with the intent of killing, stealing, and destroying us. We are not walking alone because when we walk in the light we walk with Him. We see together and move in sync with one another. What we see enables us to see more. What we experience together is preparation for what lies ahead. The light that is before us now will lead us to greater dimensions of light. His light is the light of life. A fountain of living water continues to flow in our direction keeping and preserving us. What awaits us is far greater than what we had to abandon. All that preceded was mere preparation for what the Lord has yet to show us. We can trust His guidance and rest in His peace. We must not allow anything to get us off track but know that He knows the way that we must go. And when we safely arrive, we will appreciate every winding curve along the way.

Meditation: September 20

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.“ Psalm 119:105

In a dark place, all things seem to be the same. No distinction can be made between a man and a mannequin if both stand together. Things that are false and counterfeit appear to be more perfect than things that are real in dim light. They are painted with beauty and are a piece of art, but are lifeless idols. Without the light of the Word of God, we would naturally gravitate in the direction of that appear to be real, but is only real and beautiful to the spiritually blind. Our senses once ruled us and every decision was made on the basis of our perception of reality. The darkness was not just before us, but the darkness was in us as well. Then the light of the Word invaded our world, and all things changed!  We were able to see the nature of all things and the danger that lay ahead by following the path of the blind. The very Word that changed us was also there to guide us. We have been changed in order to discern the difference between the real and the artificial, that which blesses from things that curse our souls; things that are harmful from things that are hurtful. We are on a different course requiring constant illumination of the path and assistance in order to keep walking straight. When the God’s Word determines the daily choice of our lives, we are not walking alone or following the crowd on the path of destruction. We are walking with Jesus in the Light as He is in the Light!  

Meditation: September 8

“He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”  John 16:14

The work of the Holy Spirit is to arrest our thoughts and energy and guide them in a new direction. He will give us an understanding of all things that belong to Jesus Christ. Beforehand our thoughts would wander and attach themselves to things that destroy the soul. Before He intervened there existed no passion to pursue Christ because His life to us had no appeal. Some would attempt to redefine Christ’s  life and mission in order to pursue their own passions and goals. Their emptiness remained when the activity ended. There was no lasting effect to their experiences.

There is no contentment unless the Holy Spirit is completely in charge. He will not compete with the pettiness of selfish interests. He is committed to those things that please the Father alone and will not allow anything to get Him sidetracked. What we have learned and received of Christ is clarified and applied to the soul. As the Son did only those things that please the Father, so it is with us who are led of the Holy Spirit. We will sense His grief when our ways sway towards a different path. We will sense His pleasure as we maintain that course that He has prescribed. What a privilege we have to be led by the Holy Spirit! The Eternal reaches down into time in order to envelope the temporal in order to lift mortals to a new place and a new vision. Once we see with the Lord what He has always seen, we no longer wish to entertain ideas beneath the standard now revealed to us. Even when we drift in thought and action, the same Spirit reminds us of who we are. It is the knowledge of Christ that changes us. Once we have been changed, our contentment is with godliness. Those allurements are outside of us and no longer in us. His glory is our good and His pleasure becomes our peace of heart and mind.

Meditation: August 25

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

The word “trust”, “lean”, “acknowledge”, and “direct”, illustrate to us the Lord’s mode of operation. Trust is not a mere accent to the existence of God. Even though we must believe on the Lord to be saved, but to accept His Lordship, we must lean on Him. That is, to place the weight of our lives upon Him.  To believe on the Lord is to have confidence in what He is able to do. But to lean on the Lord is to believe that He will be engaged in our personal experiences and do what He is able to do for us. Our understanding is limited. His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts.  It is when we learn from Him His ways and paths that they become our own ways and our paths. We must be convinced that He knows what is best for us. He does not lead us in a direction away from His ultimate intentions. He looks ahead and directs us towards those things that would develop character within our lives.  To acknowledge Him is to constantly consider His interaction with us in the everyday affairs of life. There is no activity in which we are to be engaged where the Lord is not to be acknowledged. Where He is acknowledged, He is given permission to direct.